Selective Facebook Status Updates

Posted By
Kevin
On
March 7, 2012 @ 12:05 PM
In
Social Networking |
4 Comments

Tom asks:

Is there any way to prevent unwanted posts from appearing on my Facebook wall, without entirely blocking the friends who post them?

Tom, thanks to Facebook, I’ve reconnected with people I haven’t seen since 8-track tapes were all the rage or–for that matter-since phrases like “all the rage” were all the rage. In other words, the flightless Dodo was still waddling around its Ocean paradise.

However, some of these old friends, along with a few new ones, have developed—and are determined to advance—an angry political agenda. In many cases, I share their views, so it’s not a matter of agreeing, or disagreeing with the opinion, it’s the vitriol with which it’s delivered. Since these views are presented primarily through links to articles, I decided to figure out the appropriate subscription update settings to keep me current on my friends’ status, without exposing myself to all the hostility. It’s likely that this solution won’t solve your problem entirely, but it may help make it more tolerable.

After attempting several variations, the settings displayed below seemed to offer the best option in my situation. Click your friend’s name and then–once on their wall–click the Subscribed button. Of course, your choices will be determined by what works best for you, but I unchecked Games (not a player), Comments and Likes, and Status Updates. Although leaving Photos checked still occasionally opens the door to some of the antagonism, I didn’t want to miss out on family pictures, or photos from a recent visit to the Grand Canyon or Niagara Falls. Despite minor aggravations, these are–after all–people I like.

To check the new settings, switch back and forth between friends’ pages and your own, refreshing each time, to be sure the changes are in place. The browser back and forward arrow and refresh (reload) buttons can be used or, if you’re a keyboard aficionado, shortcuts are as follows: Alt+right and left arrow keys takes you back and forth, and the F5 key refreshes the web page.

Your Facebook home page should now be a more relaxing and agreeable place to stay up-to-date with friends. Thanks for the question, Tom

If you’d like to delete existing posts (yours or those put up by friends), click here[1] for details.